Description:

This paper focuses on the relationship between democracy and Islam. The paper explains that Islam is an Arabic word that connotes submission, surrender and obedience; Islam itself is the action of submitting and obeying Allah, and those who perform this action are called Muslims. The paper notes that while support for democracy is just as frequent as resistance in developing nations, the fact is that Muslims see democracy as an idea spawned by the West, particularly when then U.S. advocates the change. The paper asserts that without an efficient Islamic model of democracy available for developing Muslim nations, democracy will always be associated with the Western society and form a psychological barrier to any governmental change. The paper concludes that even with support for democracy within these countries, the barriers that democracy faces are substantial enough to do more damage than good in the current climate.

From the Paper:

"The Western political structure isn't always widely accepted as being the 'world view' of democracy, but it has been accepted by a number of countries and is usually the most supported. In fact there is at least four different varieties of democracy all adopted and used effectively by different societies. For the purpose of this essay, I will be using the political idea of Western democracy. Democracy is a liberal concept that seeks to promote the freedom of choice as its underlying structure . It was invented by the Athens in Greece and translates roughly as being 'the rule of people'. The three basic grounds of democracy are interests, liberty and equality . Those voting in a democratic system will vote for political leaders who have their best interests in mind, which is why it's said citizens have a certain degree of control over the government. Their must be adequate representation for those being ruled and also the freedom to choose, which refers back to the liberty concept. Citizens of the state all have the right to be a part of the formation of the government and cannot be excluded in this process; equality is a key element within a democracy. As democracy promotes diversity, it must account for a balance of its citizen's beliefs, opinions and values . This structure of democracy does not always work effectively in all States and therefore it has been molded over the decades to meet the demands of a developing world. However the general idea of democracy, "government of the people, by the people, for the people" has always stayed central to those operating in a democratic system."